I, Robotnik

Technological determinism, whilst describing a bleak outlook on how easily technology can change human existence, is an inherently valid way of perceiving the world.

It cannot be ignored that our usage of technology in modern society has placed too much importance on the technologies available to us. We use it for tasks that used to be completely human orientated, and its place is now considered essential. It can therefore be said that our increasing reliance on it means that skills that were once essential in the past are being forgotten in favour of people learning the skills required to operate a piece of machinery. This is a very general statement, and one which I cannot prove and may possibly never be entirely true.

We were told that this theory states that progression and advancement in technology was unavoidable, that it was automatic, but we must consider that mankind is the creator of technology and any advancements made stem from a human drive to create, experiment and improve. New ideas are born every day, stimulated from the technological environment we live in, but born from the human mind nonetheless. This means there is still an intentional choice made when interacting with technology and furthering it.

For these reasons, it is impossible for me to believe all of the ideas that are attached to technological deterministic ways of thinking. I also cannot fully believe the ideas of a social constructivism way of thinking though, although it is much more grounded in the reality that we live in. Advancements in technology have been made to a point where almost all thought and control has been taken out of the hands of user in certain processes, and as much as we try to regulate it, workarounds can be found.

These ideas of thinking are valid when applied in the right sense, but as a whole, neither accurately portrays the world that we live in. They are worthwhile concepts to explore, as they can inform us about the extreme possibilities that the digital era, one which the vast majority of people are still forming an understanding of.